Preamble Morning one, morning all. This is a crucial day in the series, and I don't think we should be too bullish yet. It's a very good pitch, and if Gilchrist gets going yada yada yada. Logic says English should be able to chase anything up to 250 - the pitch is unlikely to break up much for Mr Warne - but logic doesn't always come into it when you're batting last and you know that, if you fail, you can't win the Ashes. "This Test is done and dusted," says Tony Greig. Ha, what does he know?

Bad news Simon Jones won't be on the field today; no news on the severity of his ankle injury - the scans have shown no damage - but he won't be taking part in this match. Unless England are 98 for 9 chasing 99, perhaps. I'm off for a cwoffee.

Important things about the day's play that I'm too sluggish to put into a coherent paragraph as I've only just woken up after sitting up till 3.00 watching Deadwood and Seinfeld

The new ball is due in 13 overs' time Simon Jones won't be bowling Adam Gilchrist is due Michael Clarke is in great nick The pitch is pretty flat England got a standing ovation coming onto the pitch How exciting is this? England could be 2-1 up by tonight!

68th over: Australia 224-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 39, Katich 25) The inevitable Flintoff begins, bowling over the wicket to Katich this time, and promptly beats him with a beautiful, trampolining leg-cutter.

69th over: Australia 228-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 42, Katich 26) Clarke greets Harmison with a crunching straight-drive for two. "We don't have to worry about the pitch," chirps Nick Frost. "As long as England bowl as they have done, the Aussies will play injudicious shots and we'll win. It's all very well saying Gilchrist etc are due an innings, but there's a reason why they haven't got big scores - poor batting." Controversial.

70th over: Australia 228-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 42, Katich 26) Maiden from Flintoff to Clarke. Not much sign of swing and wotnot, but then it is a very old ball. The highlight of the over is a cut to Ricky Ponting on the balcony, reading one of the broadsheets and cussing lightly.

71st over: Australia 232-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 43, Katich 28) Just singles in that Harmison over. "Just wondering if you can set the scene of today's play," says Giles Anderson. "You know, just how packed is GU Towers, size of TV screen, size of GU hack's desperation at lack of emails...." Well, you couldn't cut the atmosphere with a Samurai sword here - I'm the only person on the entire floor, the TV screen is one of those little, Ron Jeremy-size Hitachi ones (15 inches tops), and I couldn't give a stuff whether I get a single email all day because my iPod is working again, the cricket is fascinatingly poised and I'm not hungover. I'm benign contentment personified, with strawberry blond hair.

72nd over: Australia 234-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 43, Katich 29) It's the calm before the new-ball storm, though how England will juggle their three seamers to get Harmison and Hoggard with the new ball, I'm not sure. Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting will be seeing the match referee tonight to discuss his Henmanesque outburst yesterday. It's unlikely but not entirely inconceivable that he will be banned for the final Test. I still think he has a point: England have brazenly bent the rules on sub fielders, but then again they haven't broken them. As usual, it's the law that's the ass.

73rd over: Australia 235-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 43, Katich 30) Ah, that's how they'll juggle the bowlers: Giles is on for Harmison, and he almost strikes straight away. Clarke comes down the pitch to whip to leg, and the leading-edge flies straight into Bell's right palm at silly point and out again. It was a quarter-chance at best.

74th over: Australia 236-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 43, Katich 31) "Hello," says Abby Robinson. "I'm an Australian who doesn't really care if they lose the Ashes (I hope no-one I know is reading this) but there's a bit of chicken-counting going on over there that makes me nervous - not you, but others." I agree: the English (fans, not players) have been dreadful winners this summer: smug, annoying and fearfully unfunny. And we haven't even won anything yet!

75th over: Australia 240-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 46, Katich 32) Pretty good stuff from both sides so far - England look hungry and sharp in the field, and these Aussies look business-like and purposeful. That said, Clarke is living on the edge as always - here he cuts at Giles and the edge flashes between keeper and slip.

76th over: Australia 242-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 48, Katich 32) Great stuff from Flintoff, who bangs two successive short ones in to young Clarke (I've done it. For the first time in my life, at the age of 29, I've prefaced someone's surname with 'young'. I'm finished), the second of which takes the glove and loops into the vacant silly-point area. This is really good, hard-boiled Test cricket you're inexplicably reading about rather than watching just now.

77th over: Australia 242-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 48, Katich 32) Clarke is itching for action like a 16-year-old on his first visit to Chasers. He sets off then for an absurd single and is sent back, and if the bowler Giles's throw had hit he would have been home bu the merest fraction. "Good morning Rob," says Matthew Cobb. "Never having heard of Sigur Ros, I thought I'd investigate what kind of beat combos you dashing young journos down in the Big City listen to, so I went onto iTunes to have a quick listen. While it seemed pleasant enough (and not the OC style Blink 142 I was fearing), isn't it simply Godspeed You Black Emperor for people who don't like Grateful-Dead style jams? Convince me I should spend 79p on one of their tracks." Hidden depths. Listen to the chorus track 2 of their third album (called (), confusingly enough) while holding the one you love and your heart will burst. Fact. Meanwhile, I'm not that familiar with Godspeed. Are they better than the sometimes fabulous Mogwai?

78th over: Australia 242-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 48, Katich 32) As if to legitimate Duncan Fletcher's argument over sub fielders, I had to take an urgent call of nature then. OBO reporters are allowed seven minutes; any longer than that and you can't OBO for a certain length of time. Anyway, don't think you missed much: Bell bowled a maiden to Clarke.

79th over: Australia 243-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 48, Katich 33) Big shout for lbw against Clarke from Giles. It pitched outside leg, but I'm here to tell you Steve Bucknor thought long and hard about that. For a split-second I thought that - unlike the new, sober me - he was going to have another shocker.

80th over: Australia 244-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 48, Katich 34) "I'm the temptress, can you resist me?" says Mark Nicholas, although sadly he was talking about Ian Bell's deliberately wide deliveries to hyperactive young Clarke. Anyway, here comes the new ball, as the Pixies almost sang back in the day.

81st over: Australia 244-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 48, Katich 34) England don't take the new ball - chiefly because Matthew Hoggard is off the field. Like waking up next to Hetty Wainthrop after the mother of all benders, that really is not good. The relentless intensity of this series and its schedule is starting to take its toll. Maiden from Giles, and a good one. "No, nothing was missed with the Bell over," says Katy Robinson. "The commentators compared Bell's bowling to that of the great Astle (Nathan not Jeff) and suggested that it was a good ploy for Vaughan to bring him on. That's 27p please."

82nd over: Australia 244-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 48, Katich 34) Bell continues with a maiden to Clarke, and Hoggard is back on the field, munching furiously on something. And here's Steve Spencer. "If you're a fan of Sigur Ros then perhaps you also like 70's German music. So, who's the best? Can, Neu! Or Amon Duul, in their many incarnations? Faust and Ash Ra Temple also have their adherents. I'd like to see more Kosmische Rock in the Guardian, and here's a good place to start." And end. Actually I've always wanted to buy some Neu! but have never felt trendy enough. Any recommendations? The Can song on Morvern Callar - I Want More - is tremendous, and a good place to start for anyone who wants to acquire some cultural capital, because having a great record collection will really help you with the ladies even if you're a shy, socially retarded personification of nerd-dom, chaps. Oh yeah.

83rd over: Australia 247-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 50, Katich 35) Clarke just about gets to the pitch in order to swat Giles through midwicket for two to bring up his half-century. It's taken 133 balls, which is about 60 more than usual for Clarke. This is intense, old-school Test cricket.

84th over: Australia 248-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 50, Katich 36) Stephen Harmison (is it Stephen? Steve? Steven? Ste?) returns, new ball and all, and England could really do with something from him here: he's taken only five wickets since that storming performance at Lord's. This is such an important passage of play now. If England don't take wickets with the new ball they could have significant problems. In the meantime, it's drinks. Who would have thought Messrs McGrath and Gillespie would be the waiters?

85th over: Australia 249-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 50, Katich 37) No real sign of swing for Hoggard in his first over with the new ball. "Here is the ultimate proof Godspeed are not to be compared with Mogwai (or Sigur Ros) lightly," says Ivan Maddox. "http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=16660&from=browseRecent. It's a concert recorded at L'Échangeur in Bagnolet in early 2002.

86th over: Australia 249-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 50, Katich 37) This game has a similar feel to the Oval 1991 Test against the West Indies, only with an even bigger prize. England had a nervy run-chase then, and it's looking ever more likely that they'll have one here. "I've two spare tickets for Sigur Ros at Brixton Academy in November," says Adam Ramadan. "If England win the Ashes, you can have them." Yeah that's all very nice, but what's in it for me?

87th over: Australia 253-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 54, Katich 37) Nice delivery from Hoggard first up, just moving away a fraction, and Clarke edges it down to third man for four. England could really, really do with a wicket here - this partnership has been going more than 40 overs now. "You want Neu! 75 -- the black-and-white one," says Ian Fielding. "I see Franz Ferdinand are planning to differentiate their albums by cover art colour-schemes from now on, rather than good old fashioned titling. Don't believe the hype! The Krautrockers were there first."

88th over: Australia 254-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 54, Katich 38) "I'm sure your reader [very droll - Smyth] will be delighted to know that later on today I will be e-mailing off the manuscript of my pop sci book on 17th century science, which has delighted the readers of GU OBO and footie commentaries over the last year or so, in particular my old adversary, Richard Jones, who sometimes claims to be a Professor at Geneva University," says Matthew Cobb in the longest sentence I've read since that John King book 'Headhunters' almost ten years ago. "That explains why I'm reading you rather than watching C4 downstairs." Good excuse, but what's everybody else's? This stuff about living in places where they don't show the cricket, like Finland/America/Belgium/Greenland/Grimsby - I'm not buying it.

This morning's stats 21 overs, 32 runs. Despite, or perhaps because of the slow scoring-rate, it's been absolutely compelling.

89th over: Australia 254-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 54, Katich 38) Still no real sign of much happening with the new ball, although England are bowling with good discipline. A maiden from Hoggard, and here's Ed Wood. "For my money, though Tago Mago is the classic Can album, you can't go wrong with Future Days in the sun. It was recorded in a disused cinema padded with matresses, apparently. Godspeed are brilliant too, by the way, if highly pretentious." Isn't that a prerequisite for all post-rock bands? It reminds of that famous Fawlty Towers joke: 'Pretentious, Mo(gwa)i?'."

90th over: Australia 255-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 55, Katich 38) Clarke continues to show impressive patience outside off stump - thse two have played excellently, and increasingly responsibly - and England are going to have to work bloody hard for this next wicket you feel. It could be time for the force of the Flintoff personality to be felt.

91st over: Australia 257-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 55, Katich 38) I've been reduced to pathetic attempts to goad fate, such as preparing the morning session document for the OBO archive and putting Australia's score as 2xx-4. I really am a very sad man, but the ease with which these two are playing is starting to get a little bit worrying. That said, Steve Bucknor thought long and hard and then some more over a huge lbw shout by Hoggard against Clarke, who was on the walk, before turning it down. It wasn't plumb but it was out, although the fact that it was barely shaving leg stump justifies Bucknor's decision.

92nd over: Australia 258-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 55, Katich 39) It is indeed Freddie time, immediately around the wicket to Katich. Nothing doing. "Pretentious? Neu," chuckles Benedict Fisher. "I'd like to give a shout for Can's "Vitamin C", which is tip top...but is it possible to be both brilliant and pretentious?" Absolutely - just look at me.

93rd over: Australia 261-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 56, Katich 41) Clarke drives Australia into the lead. Tense times. "The significant thing is that every run now counts double," says Tony Greig. I didn't realise cricket had introduced a European football-style away-runs-but-only-when-you-follow-on-then-take-the-lead rule. That said, there is the same nervous we've-done-the-hard-yards-but-what-if-we-lose-now tension in the Trent Bridge crowd that you get at Old Trafford when United have drawn the away leg 0-0 (see Monaco 1998 and Madrid 2000). And rather ominously, United usually - nay, always - lose in such circumstances.

94th over: Australia 261-4 (trail by 259 on first innings; Clarke 56, Katich 41) That was a big chance for England. Katich was sent back by Clarke and was comfortably short of his crease, but the bowler Flintoff missed the stumps. Gah! A maiden.

WICKET! Australia 261-5 (Clarke c Jones b Hoggard 56) That's the breakthrough! Hoggard, who has bowled really well today, finally, finally tempts Clarke to fiddle unnecessarily outside off stump at an awayswinger, and Jones takes a straightforward catch. Young Clarke looked devastated. Australia are effectively 2 for 5, and here comes Adam Gilchrist. The scoring-rate has been under two an over all day. It won't be much longer.

95th over: Australia 262-5 (trail by 259 on first innings; Katich 41, Gilchrist 1) "Perhaps we are witnessing the next stage of the Australian Master Plan," opines Duncan James. "They have lulled us into a false sense of security. Now they will bat out this match, McGrath will stop pretending to limp and they will win the last match by a world record innings and 673 runs." I'm more worried about them winning here. If they do, the match at The Oval will be the biggest anti-climax since David Brent's blind date.

96th over AKA Flintoff v Gilchrist: Australia 270-5 (trail by 259 on first innings; Katich 41, Gilchrist 9) Two slips and two gullies for Flintoff to Gilchrist, who seems to have adopted the strange Pietersen get-the-bat-miles-behind-your-back leave. Not that he used it too often: Flintoff pitches one up, and Gilchrist simply slams it through the covers for four. Then he pulls the next one for four. For the first time in this series, he has looked like the real Adam Gilchrist in this match. But there wasn't much he could do against a cracker that zipped past the outside edge off the penultimate ball of the over. And that's lunch - it's been a compelling if attritional session. With Adam Gilchrist at the crease, attrition won't be on the menu after lunch. Thanks for all your emails - Rob.